Jerry L. Walls

Again, these sorts of books won't convince a Calvinist to "switch sides," yet they may help reinforce the views of Arminians. The authors here are good Methodists (if there is such a thing, ha!), and they engage Calvinism very irenically. They give the Calvinist side every time, and are very sympathetic to their views, but they then support the Arminian side fairly well. Sometimes their real-world examples, allegories, get a bit kooky and hard to follow. The chapter entitled "Engaging the show more Bible" does just that, undermining the calumny on Amazon that this book is "all philosophy and no Bible." Again, Calvinists often suffer under the delusion that Calvinism is all Bible and no philosophy, and any other theological system is a corruption of fallen man. Walls and Dongell show that, indeed, Calvinism is a philosophical system that only works if every bit of TULIP works. They do a good enough job of knocking some of the acronym down, though as Methodists instead of, say, Free Will Baptists, they don't hit the nail of Hebrews 6:4-6 that hard at all. To sum up, this is an interesting, thought-provoking book, better than Debating Calvinism, but nowhere near as good as Grace, Faith, Free Will by Picirilli. show less

A useful critique of Calvinism, accessible and well made points that will cause you to think about the assumptions that you have in your own ways of thinking and believing. This book begins with one of the best explanations of the basis for generous Christian dispute that I have ever read. Unfortunately the presentation of the arguments doesn't always live up to the high standards aspired to here. The section on Biblical interpretation is the best of the other chapters. The philosophy show more sections too often slip into inconsistency and snide digs at the Calvinists writers being engaged with. It feels like two essays, by the two authors, have been bound in one cover without a huge amount of collaborative work. show less

In my 35 years of giving theology serious thought never have a found a book as good as this one in presenting fundamental concepts of biblical study and theological concepts. Worth every penny I spent on it!

Will heaven be boring? How can a good and loving God send people to hell? Is there such a place as purgatory? If so, why is it necessary, if we're saved by grace?

Questions about the afterlife abound. Given what is at stake, they are the most important questions we will ever consider. Recent years have seen a surge of Christian books written by people claiming to have received a glimpse of the afterlife, and numerous books, films, and TV shows have apocalyptic or postapocalyptic themes. Jerry show more Walls, a dynamic writer and expert on the afterlife, distills his academic writing on heaven, hell, and purgatory to offer clear biblical, theological, and philosophical grounding for thinking about these issues. He provides an ecumenical account of purgatory that is compatible with Protestant theology and defends the doctrine of eternal hell. Walls shows that the Christian vision of the afterlife illumines the deepest and most important issues of our lives, changing the way we think about happiness, personal identity, morality, and the very meaning of life. show less